


Friday March 13, 2015

by dizzy



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-17
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-03-18 06:12:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3559058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty four hours of Chris and Darren’s life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friday March 13, 2015

**one a.m.**

They fall into bed. 

"Are you setting an alarm?" Darren asks. 

Chris looks at his phone, debating checking that one last email. He decides it can wait until morning. "Not unless you need me to." 

"Nope," Darren says, rolling onto his stomach. He hugs the pillow to his cheek and Chris can't resist leaning over to kiss it. 

"Good night." Chris whispers with his lips still pressed to Darren's skin, feeling the shift of Darren's smile under the touch. 

"Sleep tight?" Darren asks. His voice is sweet and sleepy, a little bit teasing. 

"Don't let the bed bugs bite." Chris settles himself back, turning onto his side. He's facing away from Darren, but that's just how they sleep best. 

Chris has never told Darren, but one of the reason he likes sleeping like this is because on the nights when Darren isn't with him he can face away and pretend Darren's right there anyway. 

**two a.m.**

Darren dreams of pink lipstick and Chris with feather-wings in the rain. He won't remember it in the morning. 

**three a.m.**

Chris dreams of being lost in his second grade classroom and chasing Darren across the playground. He won't remember it in the morning. 

**four a.m.**

Brian meows at the door until Chris stumbles out of bed and lets him in. 

Darren doesn't wake up, not even when Brian sprawls out across his legs to sleep. 

**five a.m.**

Chris startles awake, not sure why. His mind spins for a moment, anxiety gripping him. Is he late for something? Did he miss an alarm? Is there a call time? But it's dark outside so he breathes in deep and closes his eyes firmly. 

When that doesn't work, he rolls over and stares at Darren - mouth slack and slightly drooping, lips a little chapped, deeply asleep - until he calms. 

**six a.m**.

Cooper woofs urgently. 

"Your turn," Darren says, burrowing into the pillow. 

Chris is having none of that. "I bet Brian in earlier." 

Darren sighs. 

Deeply. 

Then gets up to go let the dog out. 

**seven a.m.**

When he gets back in bed Darren only drifts, doesn't really sleep. He gets like that sometimes. His settings are either crash hard, or never stop even when he really should. 

But it takes a toll. Chris could tell them all the truth. Darren's body might be an instrument, but it's far from finely tuned. He almost always has some kind of low grade cold, his insomnia gets worse the older he gets, and his constant desire to please everyone around him leaves him sometimes frantic to the point of shutting down and actually getting nothing at all done. 

So when he wakes up vaguely but not entirely rested, his mind and body don't know what to do with that. A lifetime of quickly caught naps leave his body thinking that half-exhausted is a natural state to be in. 

As much as he would love to get another couple hours in, he realizes that he won't and decides the time is better spent on productivity. 

He finds a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and grabs Cooper's collar. As subtle as they can be in this neighborhood, he still can't remember the last time he took the dog out for a walk by himself. They've only really had that one near miss, but there's still always been that lingering fear that someone would spot him around. 

Right now, he decides he just doesn't care. 

**eight a.m.**

The feeling of being alone in bed, free to sprawl out as much as he likes, is welcome for a hazy half hour of drifting in and out of sleep before it becomes too much for Chris. He gets up and finds the house empty of two out of three of his hirsute roommates and accepts that for the gift that it is. He'd rather be the one left making breakfast over taking the dog out any day. He might have learned the value of a workout, but he still prefers that to happen in doors with an ipad in front of him and not actually out in the elements. 

And yes, outdoors is still outdoors, even if it Los Angeles has about the most temperate and pleasant of elements to offer. 

Darren's sweaty and red-faced when he comes in. Chris ducks away from a kiss, pointing toward the hallway. "Shower." 

Darren pouts as Cooper jumps up to greet Chris. "Oh, but you let him lick you." 

Chris rolls his eyes. "Go!" 

**nine a.m.**

Chris eats his breakfast of bacon, eggs, cheese, and avocado on an English muffin with one hand while he taps out email replies with the other. 

Darren comes back wearing just his underwear and makes a line straight for the plate waiting for him. "What's your morning?" 

"Shower, go pick my outfit for tonight, then a lunch meeting. I should be back here by three." Chris has to adjust his glasses when he looks up. "You? Swallow first." 

Darren smirks, but chews and swallows the bite in his mouth. "Two meetings, lunch, another phone thing after. I may come back here for that." 

"You should," Chris says, just because in his mind why wouldn't everyone always want to be home?" 

"If I make it in time, we can watch-" 

"No." 

"But it's-" 

"No." 

"Come on!" 

"I do not want to watch myself on television!" Chris scowls. "You know how I feel about that." 

"But it's Ellen! I recorded it!" 

"I still don't get why.”   


"Vanity. Ego. Narcissism. To see your super cute face." Darren grins. 

Chris rolls his eyes. Again. It's a response Darren tends to evoke from him a lot. "You're an idiot." 

"An idiot running late," Darren says, shoving the last of his muffin into his mouth. 

"I don't know how you wake up an hour before me and still end up late." Chris shakes his head. 

"It's a gift." Darren kisses him on the cheek, transferring a tiny disgusting bit of muffin crumb. 

**ten a.m.**

Darren's left a mess in the bathroom. He doesn't always do that. He's actually pretty good about cleaning up after himself - (Chris always thanks Darren's mother for that when the in-laws come to stay) - but when he's in a hurry that goes out the window. 

It's annoying most days. It's even annoying right now, in the midst of growing sentiment, but Chris can't deny that he'll miss this just a little bit over the months when they won't be here together. 

**eleven a.m.**

The door shuts behind Chris. 

Cooper sits at the end of the foyer, waiting to see if Chris will come back. After a few minutes he gives up and jumps onto the couch to sleep. 

Brian's in the bedroom. He likes to nap on Darren's pillow. Somehow, it's just the best one. 

**twelve p.m.**

(Sent at 12:07) Darren. This place I'm eating at only has salad. This is a crime. 

(Sent at 12:14) This place has burgers but I ordered a salad. :(

(Sent at 12:17) You're going to gain 20 lbs when this show is over, aren't you? 

(Sent at 12:18) Will you still love me when I have a burger belly? 

(Sent at 12:24) Probably not. 

(Sent at 12:27) Ouch. 

(Sent at 12:31) Yeah, I'm sorry, I require my trophy boyfriend to fit rigid societal standards for attractiveness. You can't lose your hair either. 

(Sent 12:32) Dude, if that happens you're blaming every hair stylist I ever had on Glee. 

(Sent at 12:35) If I made it through all of those costumes with my dick still working, you have no excuse. 

(Sent at 12:39) Puhhhhhhhhlease. You wear tighter pants than that around the house now. 

(Sent at 12:41) Only when I realized how much you like my ass in them. 

(Sent at 12:42) Mr. Colfer, are you flirting with me? 

(Sent at 12:45) If you have to ask I must not be doing it right. 

(Sent at 12:49 Dick pics might work better. 

(Sent at 12:51) [[image attachment](http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-130123-Dick-Van-Dyke/ss-130122-Dick-Van-Dyke-tease.blocks_desktop_medium.jpg)]  

(Sent at 12:53) Rude. 

(Sent at 12:54) Okay, Stephanie Tanner. 

**one p.m**.  


Darren's not home. Chris isn't the least bit surprised. Running late is normal for a guy who stops to talk to anyone and everyone, a guy who will answer the question of "How's your day" with a twenty minute monologue. Chris has seen businessmen in meetings looking at their watches wanting to be the ones to escape. 

Chris finds the interview from the day before, and he'd never admit it to Darren but he actually sits and watches it. Within ten seconds, he can find a dozen things about himself to criticize - but Darren is pretty much adorable, at least.  

It's still strange to Chris, though. It's strange to sit and watch himself and Darren on a screen. For a moment he tries to pretend that the people speaking are total strangers. He tries to imagine what it must be like to watch a person and feel like you know that person. 

But he can't work his mind around it. He can't un-know Darren and their lives, both together and apart. He can't manage to reach that level of distance. He knows he's doing this because he's nervous about what the night will hold. These kinds of events always make him nervous, even though he's usually more or less fine once he's up there on stage. 

He turns  off before the end. He likes reality better than whoever those people they sometimes pretend to be. 

**two p.m.**

(Sent at 2:31) Traffic is such a bitch. 

(Sent at 2:32) I hope you're dictating that. 

(Sent at 2:32) Of course I am. 

(Sent at 2:33) I'm not answering you if you keep texting while you drive. 

(Sent at 2:33) :(  
(Sent at 2:34) Chriiiis.  
(Sent at 2:34) I'm at a red light, it doesn't count.  
(Sent at 2:36) You don't love me.  
(Sent at 2:36) I have donuts. 

(Sent at 2:36) I'm only responding to re-assert how important it is to drive safely.  
(Sent at 2:36) Especially when you have cargo as precious as donuts. 

**three p.m.**

"Am I forgiven?" Darren asks, standing crowded in close to Chris. His head rests on Chris's shoulder. Chris has an arm loose around Darren's waist. 

Chris considers the half-eaten chocolate iced donut in his hand. "I suppose. You sure you won't have one?"

"Nah," Darren says. "I can enjoy it vicariously." 

Chris laughs but allows Darren to lick into his mouth for a chocolate-flavored kiss. 

**four p.m.**

Chris is on the phone in his office. Darren can halfway hear him since the door isn’t closed, but a call with his publisher is too boring for Darren to even bother eavesdropping on. 

He’s half-heartedly thinking about how he should have driven faster so maybe they’d have time for sex before they have to head to the event tonight, but his meetings always tend to run long. 

All meetings run long, Chris usually reminds him. It’s like a rule of meetings. However soon you think it should end, add half an hour to that. 

Darren’s pent up energy is growing and since he can’t work it out in the sheets or the streets (too crowded now to take the dog on another run) he settles for their home gym. 

**five p.m.**

The call runs long. Of course it does. Chris stares at the door to his office wistfully. He could hear Darren singing earlier and he really had hoped he might could convince Darren to distract him out of his pre-interview panel nerves with a blowjob, but two of the people on the conference call just won’t fucking shut up. 

He’s even more disappointed when Darren sticks his head in the door to mouth that he has to head out. 

**six p.m.**

At least three people text Chris asking about dinner before the event, but Chris shuts them all down. He feels a little bad he really can't eat before stuff like this. His stomach is a tight knot of anxiety, even when people try to insist. 

He breathes like his therapist taught him, pops the kind of pill that he only really ever uses before he has to go in front of a ton of people, and checks himself in the mirror one more time. 

**seven p.m.**

Chris stands off to the side watching Darren for a few minutes. He's not doing the press line, but no one really expected him to. 

One day they won't have to time arrivals apart on purpose. Chris dreams of that, how much easier it'll be and how much better he'll feel with Darren by his side. 

They'll get there. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not this year or even next, but eventually. 

"Ready to go in?" A voice asks Chris. 

"Yeah," Chris answers. He glances back at Darren just for a moment. He looks like he might have forgotten his eye drops, and Chris feels a slight pang of concern for him. It's not slowing Darren down much now, but he'll probably have a bitch of a headache before the night's over. 

**eight p.m.**

They sit back stage while the episode is screened. There was some talk about wanting to go out and sit in the audience - mostly by Darren and Chord - but security vetoed that, much to Chris's relief. 

So instead they're shuffled into a back room to wait. Almost everyone scattered right away, little group conversations, catch ups, some taking phone calls. 

No one ever told Chris being famous meant so fucking many phone calls. 

Darren, who just got off of a call himself, settles on the couch besides Chris and leans in with a whisper. "I'm so horny." 

Chris startles so fast his phone almost jerks out of his hand. "What?" 

"Performance boner," Darren says, grin shameless. 

"You are an idiot." 

"Who's an idiot?" Chord leans in. 

"Me. Because of performance boners." 

"Oh, dude, I totally get it," Chord says with such a genuinely sympathetic expression that Chris has to laugh. 

**nine p.m.**

The applause is deafening. Chris's heart pounds rabbit-fast but he tries to smooth it over. He's learned a lot in the last few years, and a better interview game face is definitely one of them. 

It helps that everyone is here. As much as some of these people grate on him, he's still been through enough that if he saw them in a crowd his first response would be a burst of relief. 

He doesn't always like them, but he certainly loves them. And maybe that's what family is. You know you'll spend the next ten years avoiding someone like the plague, you always tell the bad stories before the good ones, you're glad every day that you don't have to be around them - but they're still part of you, and you can't change that. 

Besides, he thinks as he hears Darren laugh from down the line, some of them aren't too bad. 

**ten p.m.**

Darren's sweating under his jacket. He can feel the shirt he's wearing cling to him uncomfortably, but it's a background sensation. 

What registers more is the applause, the rush of voices, the hands grabbing at him. He takes as many pictures as he can, signs as many headshots and phones and listens to as many enthusiastic declarations as he can while trying to pretend like the words will linger in his mind for more than the space of time it takes for them to be said. 

He can't be everyone's best friend and he can't ever live up to what idea of him some people have in their minds, but he can do them the favor of preserving that idea by letting them walk away feeling like they got a part of him now.

He tried to explain it like that to Chris once. Chris didn't get it at all, but that's okay. They're all made of different things, different motivations and inspirations, different things that make their brain tick. Darren's fine acknowledging his strengths alongside his weaknesses. His parents taught him that; never feel shame for what is beyond your capability, but also don't let other people make you feel ashamed for what is. Darren can turn the bullshit factor up to eleven and charm a crowd, great - but Chris can do things with words Darren can only fumblingly aspire to. They worked through the ego-related roadbumps without too much bloodshed because they both get how different they really are when it comes to some things. 

He finishes with the people and heads back stage to find Chris. Chris never eats before stuff like this, so he’s probably starving by now. 

**eleven p.m.**

They sit in Chris’s car eating burgers and splitting a large order of fries that, if anyone asks, Darren had absolutely nothing to do with ordering. 

"Where are you headed next?" Chris asks, knowing Darren probably had half a dozen invitations. Parties, concerts, friends that want to meet up, people who want to pretend they’re friends and meet up thinking they can leach some of his greatness. 

Chris, meanwhile, has plans with his laptop and maybe Netflix if he stays awake that long. 

"There's this concert," Darren says. "But I was actually thinking I might just head back after you, if that's cool?" 

Chris's smile softens. He doesn't by any means expect Darren to want to stay in as much as he does, and Darren doesn't have any qualms about going out and enjoying stuff without Chris... but that just makes it mean more when what Darren does really want to do is stay in. 

There's sentiment creeping in again, the impending months they'll be apart. He's sure that has something to do with Darren's preferences, but that's okay. They're allowed to be sappy coming off the heels of something like this. 

"Yeah," Chris says. "That sounds nice." 

The routine of home is easier with two. Darren takes Cooper out while Chris gets the pets all fed. He spends a quick moment talking to his fish (who swims absently without giving a single fuck that the large pale blob is making noises at him) and then gives Brian a little cuddle before returning to his one true love, the laptop. 

Darren strips as he walks into the bedroom, clothes going in a somewhat contained pile on the chair. "I'm gonna shower, unless you prefer to luxuriate in my manly musk?" 

"Clean up after yourself this time," Chris shouts after him, grinning a little. 

Darren pops his head back out, smirking. "Oh, I was planning on cleaning up myself _very_ well, don't worry. Scrub-a-dub inside and out." 

"I said clean up _after_  yourself, not clean up yourself." Chris corrects him with a laugh. "I see how it is, though. You only came back early for sex." 

Darren doesn't shut the door all the way behind him, so Chris can still hear his laugh. 

After a few minutes Darren starts to sing. He's obnoxiously loud just so Chris will notice, still amped up after being on stage in front of so many people. He wasn't kidding about the performance boner thing, and it's a feeling that lingered. He goes half hard as he fingers himself open and clean but he doesn't encourage it. He'll let Chris handle that later. 

He's finished shortly after that, and only towels off enough to make sure he won't get the sheets wet. A little product in his hair just to keep it from rioting when he sleeps on it and then he's flopping across the bed naked. "I'm gonna mix sex so much." 

Chris looks him over, eyes lingering in one specific area. "Oh yes, I'm sure you will."  

"I mean it," Darren insists. He stretches, rubbing a hand over the flat of his stomach and scratching through the hair underneath his belly button. "We haven't gone that long before." 

Chris is fairly used to Darren's moves when he wants to get laid, but the sad fact is that really all he needs to do is lay there naked and willing long enough and Chris will get turned on. 

Darren knows he's won when Chris closes the laptop and shimmies his boxer briefs off under the blankets. His grin is cream-lapping smug when Chris rolls on top of him and playfully pins him down. "Oh, stop acting like you weren't just waiting there shamelessly," Chris mocks. 

"Never said anything else." Darren wraps his arms around Chris's neck and leans up for a kiss, bristly stubble scraping gently and wet lips working together. 

They've been together long enough that kissing is familiar, but that doesn't mean it isn't still nice. They share long, slow, deep kisses that fill the room with little breaths and smacks and the steadily growing rustle of their bodies moving together. The sex itself is familiar too but that's a good thing. Chris thinks it's a good thing, anyway. Sex before Darren, before a real relationship, was as nerve-wracking and anxiety inducing for him but now it's nothing but comfort and confidence. They know each other enough that it doesn't leave him wondering if the person he's with finds him lacking, that he can tell Darren what he wants and how, that he's happy when Darren does the same with him.

It's a steady give and take - like how it's Darren that reaches down between them to adjust their cocks in a better position to press and rub together, but it's Chris that reaches for the lube and the condom when they're both turned on to the point of being ready for more. 

Chris leans back to guide himself into Darren but Darren's hands guide in back down close again. Darren wants it close - he wants to feel Chris everywhere, the sweat sticking their chests together, the smell of Chris strong where Darren fits his face against the crook of Chris's neck, nothing but the friction of Chris's stomach rubbing against his cock to bring him slowly off. As they both get closer Darren hooks one knee around Chris's leg and makes quiet grunting _uh, uh, uh_ noises against his neck.

Darren comes first almost by accident, the head of his cock catching just right on the hair on Chris's stomach. His arms go tighter around Chris and he arches up and Chris knows just what drives Darren crazy so he goes faster, stops trying to pace himself and pulls back so he can look down and watch the lube-slick slide of his dick in and out. The sight of it combined with Darren's cock still swollen and ruddy in a puddle of his come is enough. Chris sucks in a hard breath and goes still as his cock pulses inside the condom, inside Darren. 

**twelve a.m.**

"You tired yet?" Chris asks, enjoying the way clean sheets feel against his skin after their lazy but good-enough clean up job. 

"Nah." Darren's thrumming with post-orgasm contentment and his mind is in a hazy relaxed place but not quite to the point where he could sleep. "What do we have to watch?" 

"Mm, we can finish House of Cards?" Chris asks. 

"Works for me." Darren yawns and scoots in a little closer. 

But he's asleep before the episode is actually over. Chris watches it and debates grabbing his computer again, but his limbs feel heavy and the quiet of the night is so peaceful. 

He turns the tv off and leans over to brush a kiss against the top of Darren's tucked-down head. Darren's mouth twitches with an almost smile. 

He whispers goodnight then turns on his side facing away from Darren to sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> [reblog on tumblr](http://alittledizzy.tumblr.com/post/113830833810/friday-march-13-2015-chris-darren-rated-e-4k)


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